NUAN ($18-$14) Wider Loss,Revenues Declined,Warns for 3rd Quarter.
Thursday July 19, 5:26 pm Eastern Time
Nuance Q2 shr loss widens, warns of weaker Q3
(UPDATE: Adds details throughout)
NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters) - Nuance Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:NUAN - news), which makes software that recognizes the human voice, on Thursday posted wider second-quarter losses amid ongoing weakness in the industry and warned that third quarter results will miss current Wall Street estimates.
The Menlo Park, California-based company posted pro forma losses, which exclude amortization, non-cash compensation expenses and restructuring charges, of $11.2 million, or 34 cents a share. This compared with losses of $4.5 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had expected Nuance to post losses of 34 cents a share, according to tracking firm Thomson Financial/First Call.
Revenues also felt the pinch of slowing demand for the company's products, with quarterly revenues declining to $10 million from $12 million in the second quarter of 2000.
``Our revenues continued to reflect the overall challenging business climate for technology companies,'' said President and Chief Executive Ron Croen in a statement.
Nuance's software license revenues fell to $5 million from $8.7 million in the second quarter of last year, while service revenues rose to $5 million from $3.3 million a year ago.
In the period Nuance, whose software can help a cellular phone user access the Web on a wireless handset with just a voice command, won new contracts including one with AT&T Wireless. Swiss financial company UBS and All Nippon Airways also became Nuance's clients.
Nuance anticipated pro forma losses of between 29 cents and 35 cents for the fiscal third quarter. Current analyst forecasts are for a loss of 30 cents a share. Revenues for the quarter ending in September are seen at a range of $9 million to $11 million.
The company's shares rose 3.5 percent to close at $18.70 on Thursday, above its year low of $8.86, but way down from its high of $182. |
